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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 21, 2018 13:42:18 GMT -5
It's not (yet) a review, and not really a preview either, so a pre-review. EDIT: below this post the review starts and I know that most people do not like to read..and only want to see pictures.. (and this review is my opinion, not everyone might share that opinion) BUT there are a lot of points and or issues you might find useful or good to know.
First off, let me say that I don't want to give people the wrong idea that I hate Zoids Wild or are being negative too much (and it will look like it, but au contraire) I do really like the new line, even after this, of course I would have wanted new Zoids like the ones we all know.. but we won't be getting anything else anytime soon, so I am trying to be as excited as I can about this line. I just hope this wil not stand in the way of Koto HMM..) That way we have new Zoids and HMM versions of the 'old" ones.
BUT it has been 12 long years so expectations were high. And there are a lot of things I noticed or things that bother me.
There will be a lot of things, but bear with me, it will get better in the end
Okay so these are the things (minor and major) that have had me thinking for quite a while, things that either really bother me or things I would have liked to have seen differently. It's not necessarily criticism (sometimes however it really is), but just a lot of stuff I either would have prefered to be different or that could have been a bit better.
- The cardboard boxes are kind of flimsy. That would be okay if TT did that for environmental reasons, but I don't think they did, but just to cut costs. The thing is I think that will be an issue for people who value their boxes to stay neat, and depending on who you buy from or how they are shipped they are prone to damage more than the old packaging. Again if it's for enviro reasons I am all for, but if not, then I don't understand that choice.
- You would think that after 35 years they would have had a solution for the rubber caps. I guess they are still rubber? (which is of course true to the old lines) but was kind of hoping they would have made them in hard plastic. Because they can still dry out or deteriorate in the long run. And now they come in clear red, orange etc, how will they hold up in the long run? (and I could be wrong but who knows). And I allready saw they do show marks and that's a shame.
- Seriously do not understand the choice for clear pilots. I have seen pics of people who never had their Clear Zoids in sunlight, but they still changed from clear white to yellowish white. So why choose clear pilots is beyond me.. (plusside, not related to the color, they have pegs to stay on the Zoids better)
- Some (well a lot) of the Zoids are totally "underdressed" as in it would have been okay for some Zoids to show more of the stuff under the armor, but most of them only have a few pieces of armor, which, as is really clearly the case with KnuckleKong, makes him look really poorly armored. Better said it just makes him look really skinny and less Zoidy. A bit more armor would have done a lot for for instance Wild Liger (his legs for instance) GilRaptor (his tail). But well I guess that is a matter of aesthetics or personal preference. But now, for some it just looks like stick legs with a minor bit of armor stuck on.
- Wild Liger's design.. Don't get me wrong I do like him, but I actually like him the least of the new Zoids. 1 because all other Ligers look better (my least favorite is Shield Liger and even that one ended up ranking higher than Wild Liger) 2 his head looks too big, I don't know, maybe because of his weird lookig 2 upper teeth and the combination of his "mane flaps" that kind of make him look like a rabbit hybrid. I mean I really like the Saber much more (and as the Liger is the main thing most of the times, I just hope they armor him up to look much nicer like they did with Mugen or LZ, design wise much better looking)
- They walk really really SLOW.. Even my wind-up Barigator will outrun Gabrigator. Crocs can run really fast.. The Tortoise I get, Grachio I get (he is supposed to lumber like Ultra, he's big so that makes sense). But a Liger should really walk faster, even Gil is super slow and that somehow seems off.
-Not feeling the eyes with "pupils", would have preferred clear red and green etc parts, (and also not the gold or metallic versions, just clear, would have been a bit more true to the canopies) without the pupils, it just looks kind of weird. (but again just a matter of preference)
- They are model kits but because they supply them as parts and not sprues (and do understand their choice, because they are aiming at kids and they can't be running around with hobby knives and such) BUT it does take away (some of or a lot, depending on your preference) the building fun.. Because now most of them don't take longer then 10 minutes to build. And that is two-sided. It does save the (sometimes) hassle of cutting the pieces off, but takes away the building feeling as well. Also because the parts are supplied in bags instead of sprues they could damage more whilst being in those bags.. And all of that could have been okay if that would save people from sprue marks (if you are good at cutting you can minimize marks as much as possible, but even then sometimes it just depends on the color or where they placed the part on the sprue. That being said, they are now factory cut..and I was just hoping they would not have much sprue marks...but they still do..
- Way too much parts have that glitter shiny crap mixed into the color. The blacks, the greys and even the reds all have that shiny not quite metallic thing going on. And in for instance Energy Liger NJR it looked really good and fits the Zoid well, but with these not so much.. They should have just stuck to regular black, regular grey and could have done some of the Zoids or even parts, but as of now they just went over the top with it.
- The whole Wild Blast gimmick.. Hmmm.. mixed feelings.. some have kind of cool "action features" but the Wild Liger blades and what they do really make him look cheap, same as with Gabri, I would really have preferred if just the mouth opened, I will use it one time to see what it does, but keep it closed after that, because his mouth opening up from the middle of his body just looks really awkward...
And so we come to the Grachio (which I really love) but thinking about either buying a second one, maybe for the bone mode, but otherwise to kick off the "smack on the table" weapons. Because I simply don't think that in the long run that will be good for his neck or head (as you can see in all movies so far, his head is not protected by the Wild Blast stuff, and I just can't imagine that being very good for the plastic or the mechanism.. Would be nice to have an option to just let him walk and not use the Wild Blast.
- TakaraTomy does nothing AT ALL for anyone outside of Japan. (and no that is not necessarily because of certain promotions.) Just that I don't think or are convinced that they will be doing anything outside of Japan for the line. Yes that includes promotions, but I mean that they want to go full-on and 360 with merchandise. (I will buy all stuff in the Japanese versions, because I don't want to wait if they might possibly maybe make worldwide releases. BUT it would help (because they said they want to sell even more than NJR) if they would support their fans outside of Japan. Japan only has so much people living there and all true Zoids fans will order any which way. But they could generate so much more traffic if they translated the anime, and went full-on with the Zoids Wild campaign all over the world and not just in Japan. (they did say something about that in an interview somewhere at first, but we will have to see if they will, because we know what happened with Hasbro last time. And this time they would do it themselves, but still, first see it to believe..
The reason I am saying this is that I DO REALLY want this line to succeed, because we have had too many lines ending way too soon, bleeding to death or just being abandoned. And there are some really cool designs coming up, so I just hope they can continue as long as possible. But kids do tend to get distracted way too soon, this week they like Zoids and next week "it sucks and is childish" (and that is the part of the youth nowadays that is not addicted to their phones..) So then it again (like always) comes down to us, the longest running fans.. And they should tend a bit more to the people who kept their brand going and supported them for all those years. Kids change everyday. And true we are big kids, but at least we stay true to Zoids right? (and come from a totally different "era" than current generations)
Well okay if you are still reading after this..
I do have good things to say too. First of all, some things might be way different than expected, some things might not be as bad as I think.
AND most importantly, first and morefost: NEW ZOIDS! (and I guess all this outweighs most of the above, otherwise I wouldn't still be excited) That is the best by far of this whole thing. New Zoids, new anime, new manga. So that's all good! I really love a lot of the designs (I like Gabri, because Kroc was my second Zoid, so that brings back memories). We got 14 announced Zoids in a relatively short time frame. And we know they will we making some more designs along the way (just keep doing so). Death Rex looks amazing, we will be getting a lot of dinosaurs and other cool creatures, there are lots of directions they could go. Another Mammoth, some totally new animals we never had? I am all for that.
The fact that they really want this line to succeed hopefully makes a more solid future for Zoids. So I will keep supporting this line any way I can. I know it's not as popular as TF or even well known (most people maybe vaguely know the old ones, depending on their age). But how cool would a "real life" or even full CG movie be?
I know most of the time that in hand stuff is way different than in pictures. Even though some picture reviews show a lot, but actually having something in hand can change a lot.
I know that I will be happy (yes even with all the stuff I said in the beginning of this post) with all my new Zoids when they arrive and will closely follow everything Zoids (Wild) related, because it's still exciting, even after 35 years. And which line, series or toys could do that after so many years? So bring on more models, more designs and I for one will keep buying them (even when TT doesn't care besides in Japan)
When mine arrive I hope to contradict myself in my findings (but I will probably receive them later then most people, for I am further away from the source, shipping wise etc)
If you feel the need to post pics in this post when you do build them or anything,feel free to share your thoughts.
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Post by Hanyoutai on Jun 21, 2018 16:43:37 GMT -5
That is quite a long review!
- The flimsy boxes I think are just a byproduct of these items being very small. You see it for many toys, not just Zoids Wild. Would be nice if they were thicker, though.
- The clear pilots, I think are because so many people HATE the riding pilots. Them being clear helps the completionists keep their toys together while trying to pretend that their pilot isn't going to get murdered by shrapnel in the first 5 seconds of combat...
- Wild Liger: I am still gutted that it's not a wolverine. It matches almost exactly... in the armor design. Including those funky long teeth. I do like this kit but it is also low on my favorite ligers list.
- New Vs. Old Zoid races. That would be interesting!
- Pre cut: To be honest, Kotobukiya almost ran me out of collecting the franchise... I bought the kits of theirs I really loved, but without time to build them, I couldn't justify buying Zoids at all anymore. There are over 10 kits sitting in boxes, untouched for years, because I don't even want to go through the hassle of unpacking all that crap unless I have at least 2-3 hours to dedicate to it. I'm very glad to have something that I can do in my scattered free time. Many love the full build process, though. People who invested in expensive nippers will certainly be gutted over the sprue marks.
- Wild Blast: I do like gimmicks, generally speaking, but the Wild Liger is rather silly... It can't hit enemies without running its pilot into them. Hmm. Seems like a design flaw? Gabrigator, I admit I love my nightmare gator. It is over the top and awkward, but I like it for the 'horror' aspect. It is also arguably more functional than the Barigator, who has the pilot inside of the mouth.
- TT International: I went over this a bit in our message, but a company shouldn't be expected to provide international support for a franchise that isn't international. They'd go bankrupt. I do hope they bring it international, but if it doesn't happen, I wouldn't fault them for it. It doesn't just have to be possible, it has to be profitable. I think die hard Zoids fans give the series a little too much credit. I am not as confident it will be majorly successful if they just give it a chance. Could it make money? Sure. Is it enough to justify the immense effort of taking an entire franchise overseas? Probably not. Time will tell, though.
As for marketing to older fans, that's working less and less. Older fans are growing up and moving on. Those that aren't, aren't always able to afford them anymore. They've done a lot to support the line but without a doubt it cannot continue indefinitely without a major effort to draw in new customers. The last 10 years have been aimed at older fans. I think it is ok for them to take some time to aim for a child audience now. It's also not about caring or not caring. It's just business. They're not 'bad' for thinking this way. The series isn't even out yet. It's a little too soon to be mad about the lack of international content, but I wouldn't say it should be "expected" of them to begin with.
- New Zoids: Agreed on the excitement! I think one of the major flaws of Zoids lines in the last 10 years is their fear to make new designs. The few new Zoids we got (like Busterhead) didn't make it to kit form, and weren't exactly... fancy- designs if they had. It is good to see them finally working up the courage to make that leap.
Hyena Zoid? Please? Is that asking too much?
Unfortunately not able to get them for the release month, but I am hoping to pick them up later! Will of course be taking lots of pics, but I am excited to see things in person. Such as the Gilraptor's moving eye.
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Post by Snowflake on Jun 21, 2018 16:48:25 GMT -5
Same story for just about everything in the last few decades We want it to succeed so the franchise doesn't die, but we want to send a message that this is the wrong direction to go in
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 21, 2018 18:13:47 GMT -5
That is quite a long review! (From) The flimsy boxes ------(all the way to) eye. Haha yeah it was kind of long (and most people don't want to read much haha). But you are right about the boxes. I laughed because of your funny remark on the pilots Nice to see I am not the only one about the Liger. New vs Old for sure! Pre-cut vs allready supplied cut; def some like it more than others. I personally didn't have any issues with 22 hours of Death Stinger. But I can understand not everyone has the time (I also have loads in boxes waiting to be built, but save some for a day you need to Zoid (I made it a verb but it's nice to get your mind off things with a long build. Althought 57 pages of Ogre will be a lot of hand cramp..
Yeah indeed some of the features are not useful at all. Basically you would only have to shoot at the rider and be done with it. Or stick your Wild Blast thingy in a hole in the armor. Zoid out of commission. (yeah I know we might be way over thinking, it's "only a kids cartoon". But I did find it funny what you said about Bari, he is indeed awkwardly sitting in his mouth
And I fully understand what you said about it being a business and what cost-effort balance they seek to be profitable. But just sad to see that we don't quite matter (even if you don't take taking it overseas in account) just the (non existing) after support for all diehard fans that don't live in Japan. And true, I don't demand it of them, for I will buy the Japanese versions anyway, I just hoped that this time it will be better arranged so that if they would or rather could go international, it might help in keeping it alive so to speak. I think they deserve it for being so hardcore in trying to breathe new life into Zoids.
(Bit off topic, but still relevant I guess: look at how popular Pokémon is and it's not even that great, but it sells like hell because of a good business plan, even though Nintendo often made costly or risky mistakes with some consoles) By the way that is also the reason why Zoids Wild will be a Switch game. But I think it would have more ground on a PS4 (just because Sony is more mainstream, Nintendo, just like Zoids is more of a niche.. You like it or you don't. Sony "makes people buy stuff", just like people who love Michael Bay TF crap. It's just a matter of marketing..) We all just don't want Zoids to die off again I guess..
Oh yes Hyena! I would have loads of other animals that also fit the bill, but then again I am a sucker for Zoids haha. (I was really hoping the seahorse, frog and penguin etc that they teased years ago (the prototype stuff) would come out back then. And I mean we have snails, warthogs and such, no animal would be weird enough for me I guess
Yeah mine got "stuck", I ordered 6 on the same day, supposed to ship on the same day too. Just got the mail that 3 will be shipped (besides me having to pay shipping twice, and that was not as planned..cause that will also mean customs twice..and waiting longer..grr.. So I feel you.
Oh and I still think it's just the head piece that's moving, not the eye itself. But also how funny, "No don't shoot, my Gilraptor's eye is not alligned, oh wait there it is again, oh no wait..."
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 21, 2018 18:14:25 GMT -5
Same story for just about everything in the last few decades We want it to succeed so the franchise doesn't die, but we want to send a message that this is the wrong direction to go in Very true
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 12:50:38 GMT -5
REVIEW PART 1: Scorpear
So first off, I only had 3 of the 6 Zoids in, because HLJ messed up.. I had this order in which I wanted to make them: Scorpear, Kabtor, Wild Liger, Gannontoise, Gabrigator, GilRaptor (from least exciting to the ones I like the most). Because of this I will wait with building Gabrigator (and if they do arrive this week I will continue with the reviews)
So I started with Scorpear (and I will be unforgiving, as you might have seen in my initial post for reasons I will come back to later)
First of course the boxes and the parts needed to make Scorpear (and forgive me, the photos aren't that great, there are loads of pics online in better resolution and lighting, and I didn't want to spend that much time because of that. Anyone can look up pics online, I thought it'd be better to explain my findings than to make a photo report.)
By the way, the boxes are indeed more flimsy than they used to be, but better than expected. It's okay I guess for what it is. The boxart is nice though. Attachments:
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 13:19:01 GMT -5
One of the things I mentioned in my pre-review text above, is that I was concerned about sprue marks. Because this time we don't have any influence on how those marks will come out (any Zoid builder will know the effect of how you cut the pieces of the sprues and thus making sprue marks or not. And if it occurs, how to remove them the best you can. (granted it sometimes differs per color and type of plastic, some colors or some types of harder plastic tend to leave more marks then others. (if you ever built a Koto HMM you will know for sure, but then again that IS a whole different type of building experience then these models.
Well.... we all know that if you cut too close to the part (without the margin) you will get worse marks than when you cut WITH the margin, as you can then cut the margin off and leave as little marks as possible.
By the way little tidbit, the old Zoids were usually made in Thailand, as it said so on the parts, this time they come from Vietnam, just for people wondering about if anything changed.
Anyway, as the parts are now supplied without sprues and thus cut in the factory... Well I would have still wanted that control over how my sprue marks will look. I know, I know, these are aimed at kids and the whole set is designed to be made without any tools (logically, you don't want little kids running around with knives etc, BUT then again we all had Zoids that had to be ACTUALLY CUT AND BUILT way back then and we are also kids and we did fine right?). BUT I do get the switch to the pre-cut stuff.
But that did (and that's one of my before mentioned worries, grievances, whatever you want to call them) result in well.. ugly sprue marks. There is mostly one per part, so that's okay (as in there aren't 4 places where they took it off the sprue. And actually most parts are really "okay" (and not such a problem if the marks are on a part that gets covered or something. For this first set built, there were 5 parts that had (in my opinion) nasty marks.
I included some pics where you can see some ugly ones. And the nasty part is, there's not much you can do about it (like I said before, it all depends on how you cut them in the first place..(and you don't have any say in the matter this time around..) Attachments:
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 13:25:00 GMT -5
These are those parts I sort of fixed (save the red one, could not really make it any less, but the thing with that part is, it's his head, so you do still see a mark) And I know, one person might not mind, the other might say I am nitpicking, and another might also be irritated by it. But it all depends on how you like to build, if you just slap it together, or you want to make it the way you want to. For instance some people paint or sticker/decal them, others might not (I am one who never stickered or painted or panel-lined them) It's just the way I like to see them, they should look like how they come out of the box (but I do really get the painting, as in some cases a lot of detail is lost if you don't panel-line or paint them. But I digress.
I did all I could (as mentioned before when the cut is made so close to the part..) and the worst marks are somewhat better, but still not perfect. But it can't quite be helped. Attachments:
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 13:34:07 GMT -5
Okay on to the thing itself. The motor part sits inside of the outer parts (everyone knows what a wind-up Zoid looks like) BUT...
I was wondering when watching some clips of the Zoids walking or pics of them being built that sometimes there were gaps in between parts. I did not know if that was because of speedbuilding, or the person building them did not care. And I can't really use anything as reference for now as I only built this one (and don't have a second Scorpear to compare it with). But when putting the other parts together (the "outer shells" of the black under armor..) as soon as you do that you can't wind it up (as in it will not walk) because the parts fit too tight, resulting in the fact that the legs don't have enough space to move. So you would have to leave the parts a bit less tightened than you would want. (foremost because after these steps the head and tail parts slide over these parts to keep them together.. Hmmmm weird..
As I really don't want to leave a gap in between parts, you tighten them (as anyone would, I mean you click parts together as it should right?), but then he doesn't walk... So I continued building to see what will happen. When finished he did walk? But I did have the feeling I had to nudge the 2 parts like a fraction of a millimeter or so to achieve the walking action. It's difficult to explain if you haven't built it yet (and maybe I just have a weird one, but again no reference for now, so let me know what you experience when building it, might not be the same as mine.
Don't know if it's visible in this picture, but you can see a slight gap in the picture from the front, below his head (coming up in the next post). And strongly feel that was not how it should have been.. Attachments:
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 13:42:59 GMT -5
Okay so he is finished and walks.
How long did it take? Well I am used to (and have no issues whatsoever building for 22 hours in total for a HMM Death Stinger, not all at once of course but sometimes I did get in 10 hours, with eating and such in between, but basically a 2 day build with 11 hours per day) Anyway, we all know how long building a Zoid takes (and that also depends on the size, if you do have to make extra effort on your sprue marks, if you paint them etc etc)
This model took about 15 minutes and that was mainly because of that walking issue and I kind of stretched it.. (I could also add another 11 minutes in checking all parts for sprue marks and where they had any, I had to salvage those)
But if I had just taken everything out of the bags and had not checked for the walking issue, it would have taken me about 5 minutes from opening the box till the finished (unstickered) Zoid.
Personally I find that dissappointing (and I knew that up front of course), because some people, including myself, like to just build for a few hours to take their mind off other things, for relaxation etc. Even the bigger models will not be a big project building wise (but well you can always build a HMM to do that) so I won't hold it against this line (much). It of course takes a lot of the building fun away, but again I do understand TT changing the sprue kits to readily available parts. Attachments:
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 13:49:05 GMT -5
I didn't have my Scorpozoid (yeah euro names haha) closeby so I used Bari for size comparison. As you can see he fits the other Zoids really well, if it weren't for that huge rider figure (one can always take the rider off and pretend they fit the old Zoids even better)
But that was the thing that threw me off the first time I saw the new Zoids Wild line, I measured it by what I know is the size of a normal well-known Zoids pilot. That made the Zoids seem really small (also because we were used to 1/72 scale and making them 1/35 sounded weird) But just like 1/24, the Zoids fit perfectly with other Zoids lines, as they did not change too much size wise when it came to the Zoids themselves.
To show what I mean, I included a pic in the next post, the rider is huge next to a Zoids pilot.
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 14:08:43 GMT -5
And as you can see (depending on the light, this time it was flash from my phone versus sort of daylight) it looks like he has a lavender really light purpleish hue, but he is just clear.
(I do still think that it's a weird choice, clear plastic.. because well you all know why, in the long run with clear plastic..could become brittle or change color.. I just would have either liked some color OR the actual riders that go with each Zoid, colored and everything (yeah that would up the price, but come on that would not been that expensive right? So I am guessing that maybe maybe along the line they MIGHT do them as a seperate release or whatever (or people will try to make them themselves or something)
But that was a second point, the riders, and my opinion has not changed on that after building this one.
A lot of these Zoids suffer from a lack of armor.. And it's just a big transition from canopies and a lot of armor to no canopies, riders on the outside instead of pilots inside and that underdressed armor.. AND because they also took away all the guns because "of course nowadays that's not done on kids toys". For a lot of us as longtime Zoids fans, that's a lot to take in from what we were used to..
That Kong and the new raptor have it a lot (being underdressed) but I also thought that Liger and Gil had the same issue, which makes the legs look stick figury.. But we'll have to make due with new Zoids as apposed to no new Zoids for there are a lot of cool new designs. I know it might not sound like it, but I AM EXCITED about the Zoids Wild line, because well...NEW ZOIDS.
Is it like the models we have all loved and cherished for many years? No, mostly not, but they do fit in. They are just not like the ones we have known for many years (well decades!! haha I feel old now) Is it a logical path TT chose to breathe in new life for Zoids? Well yeah I guess. Just personally would have liked more armor on most of the new Wild Zoids (but probably more on that in the next reviews coming up)
One last pic with his "tail spikes" down.
In between final verdict for now, this one is a little underwhelming (understatement) I do like the Zoid itself, just meh I don't know, I guess the things mentioned in my first post do still keep me from giving this a really high score The glitter plastic on this one (in hand makes a better judgment then on pics) is okay(ish) it's a little less bad than I thought, let's see what the other models make me think about that. The red is actually a bit like Blitz Haken, so it's not as bad as I thought it would be. (and maybe they just did that for the whole brittle red plastic curse thing, mix it with some other stuff so it's not red red.
Although I do like the feel it gives (as in it does remind you when building it, well at least it did for me, of Scorpozoid/Guysack, so that worked as a follow-up on the other lines, it does do the trick, just not yet so much as the older lines... (I really miss designs like Gairyuki or Death Raser or Führer, 3 of my favorite Theropods, WITH all the canopies or the perfectly placed armor (just looks way cooler than the "less armor" look) so GilRaptor has to prepare to fight with the big boys to maybe maybe earn a place amongst those guys.
Oh yeah and indeed (and logically of course to stay in line with the old ones, the caps are rubber) I stated above that I did hope for plastic instead of rubber, for obvious reasons. But yeah, well.
By the way, in this set you get 2 extra green caps. And yes they are stickers, not decals, kids and decals won't go well together, so for those wondering, stickers. Apply if you feel like it or leave the Zoids "Wild" I do have to say it's funny to see that all sets have a sticker with the name of the rider on it, so if you are into that sort of thing you might like that.
For now that was kind of it for the little Scorpear dude, next up is Kabtor. Let's see what that does to my opinion (I guess I will see if some of my points in the intitial text will remain the same or if the kits will make me change my opinion, but I guess I will know that by the time I do the Wild Liger and the other medium sized ones.
But as writing this and taking the pics etc took waaaayyy longer than collecting my box at the post office and building one Zoid combined (and I have to eat too ) Kabtor will come as soon as I finish him somewhere today. Attachments:
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 20:07:35 GMT -5
Okay so if by now you are only here for the pictures, well.. you missed out on some things you might want to know (so you can still backtrack and read the stuff above)
Oh and I said he walks, but unlike in the TT instruction video ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=akW8bOVmtKk&index=4&list=PLhWipIfRhqz3EzVxE10ziACmX4ATBXGdf ) where they wind it up 3 times and it appears to walk like it should? Well they cut the video and then in the next shot he walks really fast. Well not with winding it up 3 times that's for sure. I had to wind it up till the point you would think you'd break it, for it to walk more than a few centimeters (he did sometimes do a "funny dance" basically walking without moving an inch. Maybe it's the curse that some wind-ups have like Saicurtis or some Guysacks (the one where they do walk if you hold them in the air, but refuse to walk on a surface unless you nudge them, yeah that one..
One extra thing about Scorpear, the windup part that goes on the tail (see pics) is leaning either to the left or to the right. Because the holes on most parts have a triangular shaped hole instead a full round one, the pin goes in but because of that hole can't fully stay "upright" because the hole forces it to the left or right.
The reason why they chose the triangular shaped holes (think Gravity series..) is probably because there should be less stress when you put the pin in, but in this case, it doesn't really work well..
Also the case (and you will know what I mean when you have it in hand and build it (because you will feel the difference) the plastic is somehow softer. Not weaker, but softer for sure. You will notice it when putting parts together, it just feels different. Attachments:
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 20:32:43 GMT -5
On to REVIEW PART 2: Kabtor then. Of course all the parts again (this time no sticker with the rider's name, like Scorpear did, but there is the Supreme logo in text. Scorpear had Freedom and Penne)
Before you do anything else check the motor. In the booklet it says you have to build it, but I guess they made a last minute change (afraid that kids might not assemble those parts correctly) and supplied the motor allready assembled. BUT in my case the little peg that will move the legs later on, was not secured, SO CHECK THAT FIRST (of course the little peg goes into the little hole, but wasn't and one of the leg pins might shoot out, so check that as well whilst assembling)
(So a bit shorter this time, don't have to repeat myself from Scorpear.) Building took about 15 minutes again (did not need to rush it, could have been about 5 if I just did what the manual said, but had to check that motor and some other minor things). Less sprue marks (well still enough, but most ended up not visible, the ones on the legs etc. One nasty one on the back of the black "shooting" thing near the rider and one sadly enough on the "tusk" (it's called Rhinoceros beetle, so that fits right?) that was really visible..
One pic with "normal light" and the others with flash, to show what the color difference could be depending on the light. It's kind of a tone lighter than Raynos I guess. Not an unpretty color at all, just maybe not suited for this beetle (but they couldn't do Saicurtis colors again right, so this time they chose a more colorful version. There are some really nice repaints on twitter (from gold to nice red)
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Post by ultimateultrasaurus on Jun 26, 2018 20:47:23 GMT -5
One with his "tusk" and wings up ("Weirudo Burasto" or Honnou Keihou somehow comes to mind, but eh..) and with his buddy Scorpear (not his buddy though, he hates his guts I think) where you can kind of see the sheen I talked about in the red parts in certain light.
And some to show his eye a bit better (with this Zoid it looks a bit better than on Scorpear but personally I would have still have preferred "non pupil" clear blue parts instead of these.) Maybe I'll get used to them one day.
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